NATIONAL ONION RINGS DAY
Dipped in a batter or in bread crumbs and deep fried, tasty onion rings are a popular hors d’oeuvre or side dish all across the United States and are celebrated each year on June 22 for National Onion Rings Day.
Also found in Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and some parts of Asia, onion rings exact origin is unknown.
- A recipe called “Fried Onions with Parmesan Cheese” is included in John Mollard’s 1802 cookbook “The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined”. Within the recipe, it suggests cutting onions into 1/2 inch rings, dipping them into a batter made of flour, cream, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese then deep frying them in “boiling” lard. It is suggested that they are served with a sauce made of melted butter and mustard.
- Some believe that a recipe for French Fried Onions (not claiming to be the originator of the recipe) appeared in the Middletown, NY Daily Times on January 13, 1910.
- The Pig Stand restaurant chain, founded in Oak Cliff, Texas in the early 1920′s is one of the claimants to the onion rings invention.
- A recipe for deep-fried onion rings that are dipped in milk then dredged in flour appeared in a 1933 Crisco advertisement in The New York Times Magazine.
- In the 1960′s, the A&W restaurant is credited with popularizing the onion rings in fast food restaurants.